By Mary Beth Roach
New owner is happy with relocating his model home business from Brewerton to Central Square, which opened last fall
When Don Strick had to move the Brewerton location of his American Homes business — where the business had been located for 35 years — he was a little dismayed. He lost the site, he said, due to the upcoming Micron move to that area.
American Homes has been a home builder using modular construction for 45 years and Strick bought the company about two and a half years ago.
“It was kind of nerve-wracking,” he said of making the move.
But after looking at numerous potential sites, he decided on the location of about nine acres on Corporate Park Drive, on Route 11, just south of the village of Central Square and only five miles north of the former Brewerton spot. The business’ corporate offices are also on the same campus. He credited town and county officials with being wonderful to work with and the permitting and inspection processes going smoothly.
The company made about $1 million of improvements to the site, Strick said. These include sidewalks that lead up to the 17 model homes, making them more accessible for potential customers. And while there may only be 17 on site, Strick said, there are more models to for customers to choose from.
The Central Square location officially opened last fall and since then, business has been better than it had been in the Brewerton location, although there may be several contributing factors, he said.
He said that the location is welcoming, and since they’ve only been there for less than a year, “there’s probably still a lot of curiosity,” he said.
“We’re in a good spot in the market. Home prices have exploded and we’re just another alternative, a more affordable alternative,” he added.
Strick also pointed out that the company is looking to hire more for the construction side of their business.
The Central Square spot might be the newest location, but it’s certainly not the only one. Strick has three others in New York state — in Freeville in the Finger Lakes area; in Richfield Springs; and one Cairo in the Hudson Valley.
For more information on the company and its home models, visit americanhomescny.com.
